Posted: Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 8:23 AM ET (1223 GMT)
An Indian official said this week that India was ending plans to cooperate with Russia on a planned lunar lander mission. The two countries had planned to work together on the Chandrayaan-2 mission, with Russia supplying the lander and India the launch and a lunar rover. Indian officials said this week that Russia sought to change the agreement after a review of its planetary missions following the failure of the Fobos-Grunt mission. Russian proposed providing both the launch and the lander, offering a 2015 launch opportunity that could constrain the rover's mass. Indian officials conducted a review and concluded they could perform all aspects of the mission, including the lander, on its own, with a launch planned in no sooner than three years.